Several thousand taxis have snarled morning rush-hour traffic in the Portuguese capital Lisbon in the latest European protest against ride-hailing apps.
Portuguese taxi drivers complain that companies such as Uber and Cabify are not covered by the same tax, training and safety regulations as they are. They want the government to adopt specific legislation for ride-hailing services.
Two labour groups representing Portugal’s around 13,000 taxi drivers organised the long line of slow-moving taxis that snaked through Lisbon on Monday in the second such protest in six months.
Riot police scuffled with taxi drivers who refused to leave a roundabout leading to the airport, Portugal’s busiest. Police said they arrested three people who were involved in the disturbances.
Without taxis, tourists arriving in Lisbon faced long queues to buy tickets for the metro or city buses, or resorted to ride-hailing apps which have angered taxi drivers.
Some walked with their bags in tow towards the city centre.
“It’s a real pain. It will take me almost as long to get to my hotel as it took to get to Lisbon,” said Roland Baak, 46, as he waited in line to buy a metro ticket after arriving from Amsterdam for a business meeting.
Other European Union countries have also witnessed demonstrations by traditional taxi drivers against the increasingly popular ride-hailing services.
* AP
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